Clayton State University opened in 1969 as Clayton Junior College, with Dr. Harry S. Downs as the founding president. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia elevated the institution to baccalaureate status (as Clayton State College) in 1986, to university status (as Clayton College & State University) in 1996 and approved the present name on May 18, 2005.
Upon the retirement of Harry Downs in January 1994, Dr. Richard A. Skinner became the University’s second president. In June 1999, Skinner left Clayton State to head the University System of Georgia’s new distance learning initiative, Georgia GLOBE. Michael F. Vollmer, Clayton State’s acting Vice President for Fiscal Affairs and former Interim President of Middle Georgia College, served as Interim President for one year.
In April 2000, Dr. Stephen R. Portch, Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, announced that the Board of Regents had selected Dr. Thomas K. Harden as the University’s new president, effective in June of that year. When President Harden was named chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay in December 2008, Dr. Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes, Jr., provost of the University of West Georgia, was named interim president of Clayton State, starting in May 2009. On Feb. 9, 2010, the Board of Regents announced that Hynes’ appointment as president of Clayton State had been made permanent.
The beginning of the University can be traced to 1965 when the Board of Regents authorized three new junior colleges for the University System, one of which was designated for south metropolitan Atlanta. The Board considered several locations in the region, and chose the present site in Clayton County because of the unique combination of natural beauty and easy access to the then recently-completed Interstate 75. The citizens of Clayton County subsidized the initial construction of the state institution by passing a bond issue for nearly $5 million. Construction of the new campus began in fall 1968, and the doors opened to 942 students less than a year later on September 30, 1969.
In 1981, the University added a technical division offering applied associate degrees and certificates in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education. Five years later Clayton State began its baccalaureate mission with programs in business administration and nursing. The institution has continued to add majors at the bachelor’s level since that time. One notable example was the establishment of the Bachelor of Applied Science degree in 1996, as Clayton State emerged as a national leader in promoting opportunities for graduates from applied associate degree programs to “bridge” to bachelor’s degrees with little, if any, loss of credit.
